Genus Agave is composed of 275 species that occur in the arid and semi-arid regions from the south-western USA, Mexico, Central America and the West Indies. All species share thick, meaty, succulent-type spiny-edged leaves which are produced in the form of rosettes.  Most agaves are monocarpic succulents (they flower once and then die). They have funnel-shaped flowers in racemes or panicles often much taller than the rosettes.

Agave sisalana belongs to Asparagaceae family and Agavaceae genus. The native origin is uncertain. It is supposed to be a native of the Yucatán Peninsula, but no records exist of botanical collections. Possibly it is as a cross of Agave angustifolia and Agave kewensis. Sisal Agave originally shipped from the Spanish colonial port of Sisal in Yucatán to Florida by Henry Perrine, as an experimental crop. Sisal name comes from the name of the port. The plant has been widely introduced in the tropics and subtropics, including India, Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, South Africa, Morocco and China. Today Brazil is the largest producer of sisal fibres.

The sisal fibre is traditionally used for rope and twine, and has many other uses, including paper, cloth, footwear, hats, bags, carpets, geotextiles. It is also used as fibre reinforcements for composite fibreglass, rubber, and concrete products.

Agave sisalana is an evergreen, short-stemmed, succulent plant forming a rosette of leaves. The stem is not taller than 100 cm. The sword shaped leaves on mature plants can each be 80–150 cm long and 5–12 cm wide near the base. Young leaves may have a few minute teeth along their margins but lose them as they mature. Flowering only once at the end of short lifespan (8-10 years). The flowering stem can be around 5-6 metres tall and has small yellow-greenish flowers at the top of the flower spike. As a monocarpic succulent, after flowering, mother plant will die. However, the plant usually produces a number of young plants around its base that will develop as new plants. Numerous young plantlets known as bulbils grow to replace the flowers. Bulbils are ready to be planted directly in the soil to grow new plants. The plants that make this kind of offset called vivipar. (Vivipary: if seeds or embryos begin to develop before they detach from the parent). One plant can produce up to 4000 bulbils. Fruit (rarely produced) an ellipsoid capsule, tapering at base, green and fleshy when young and black and dry when ripe, with about 150 seeds.

Sisal Agave is a hardy tropical plant needing full sunlight, prefers sandy-loam soils but can be grown on a range of soils, provided they are well drained. It can tolerate -6˚C for a short time. Propagation is generally done by using bulbils produced from buds in the flower stalk or by suckers growing around the base of the plant.

Agave sisalana produces 200–250 commercially usable leaves during its 8 or 10 years of lifespan. Each leaf contains around 1000 fibres. From 100 kg sisal leaves about 3.5 kg extractable fibre is obtained. Fibre is extracted by a process known as decortication, where leaves are crushed, beaten, and brushed away by a rotating wheel set with blunt knives, so that only fibres remain. The fibre is then dried, brushed, and baled for export.

The sap from the leaves is an irritant and can cause contact dermatitis and swelling of the mouth and throat tissues. The juice of sisal can be fermented and distilled to make mezcal.

Use in Landscape: Sisal Agave cultivated as an ornamental in gardens for its handsome shape. Its sharp thorns, sometime serve as a barrier to unwelcome visitors. It is one of best-looking plant for rock garden or xeric landscape.